BRENT PHILLIPS

Brent Phillips is an Affiliate Artist Faculty member at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. Formerly a professor of trombone at Baylor since 2004, he has now made his home in Houston to pursue creative performances, festival development, and the development of a world-class trombone studio. His students are welcomed by opportunities to be mentored in the professional musical arts, trained in entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors, and prepared to compete nationally and internationally as performers and educators. He is the founding member and director of the Mountain Light Music Festival, committed to transforming it into a multi-week chamber and orchestral residency in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

In 2015, Mr. Phillips founded the Mountain Light Music Festival in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. This festival brings together a group of professional performers, artists, faculty, and students in a high-altitude wilderness setting. It culminates in a strenuous week-long music seminar that combines physical activity, intensive musical study, and pedagogical exploration. This intensive one-week music seminar serves as a creative, cultural, and professional mentoring endeavor, fostering collaboration among multiple faculty members who work artistically, spiritually, and academically. Fellows of the Mountain Light Music Festival receive training in creative business and executive arts leadership models from faculty currently leading nonprofit development and performance. The University of Houston serves as the primary source of artistic and creative collaboration, with students and faculty serving at the Mountain Light Music Festival.

Prior to his position at Baylor, Mr. Phillips held the position of assistant principal trombone of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in Washington, DC. Additionally, he served as the principal trombone of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra for fifteen seasons while concurrently performing in the Marine Band. He is currently the principal trombone of the Abilene Philharmonic and the Waco Symphony Orchestra in Waco, Texas.

Mr. Phillips has had the privilege of soloing with the esteemed “President’s Own” on thirty separate occasions, and he has also appeared as a featured soloist with the renowned Harrisburg Symphony on five occasions. His talent extends beyond these solo performances, as he continues to embark on national and international tours as a featured soloist with various orchestras.

In addition to his solo endeavors, Mr. Phillips has been invited to perform as a soloist at prestigious events worldwide. He has participated in the Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington, DC, in 2005 and 2007, the International Trombone Festival in Columbus, Georgia, in 2013, and most recently, the American Trombone Workshop in 2025. His international reach extends to countries including Belgium, Italy, and Panama, where he has been invited as a soloist and clinician.

Mr. Phillips’s expertise has also led him to perform at prestigious universities and conservatories in the United States and Europe. In 2014, he participated in “Trombonanza!,” a week-long internationally renowned trombone festival and workshop held in Santa Fe, Argentina. He performed recitals, delivered invited clinician sessions, and collaborated with other faculty members in chamber music performances.

Throughout the summer, Mr. Phillips is a faculty member at the Round Top Festival Institute, where he presents recitals, master classes, and participates in chamber music performances with his fellow faculty members.

As a trombonist with the esteemed “President’s Own” band, Mr. Phillips has amassed extensive experience as a soloist. In the fall of 2000, he appeared as the soloist on the Marine Band’s fifty-two-day national concert tour. Additionally, he has soloed numerous times with the Band at venues including Wolf Trap Farm Park, the Kennedy Center, and the National Mall. In May 2007, Mr. Phillips gave the world premiere of Tarkus by Scott McAllister, a work for trombone and orchestra, with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. He has been an invited soloist at the Eastern Trombone Workshop in 2008, where he performed Tarkus with the United States Army Band. In 2009, Mr. Phillips premiered Tarkus in Brussels and Ostend, Belgium, with the Belgium Radio Orchestra, receiving widespread acclaim and being featured in a New York Times article highlighting the work of prominent trombone soloists and commissions, alongside works by Scott McAllister, Christian Lindberg, Melinda Wagner, and Christopher Rouse.

Mr. Phillips’s performances extend beyond the “President’s Own” band. He regularly collaborates with the Dallas Symphony, having toured with them to the Netherlands, Germany, and Vienna in 2012. Additionally, he has performed at the Vail Valley Music Festival with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, Mr. Phillips has performed with the Houston Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera and Ballet, Dallas Opera, San Antonio Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Delaware Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Alexandria Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, Fairfax Symphony, and the Washington Symphonic Brass.

Mr. Phillips has released three solo CDs on the Potenza Music label titled Stepping Stones for Trombone, Volume 1 and Volume 2. These recordings are available at Potenza Music and on all major streaming platforms.

His most recent album, Meditations, is a tour de force of new repertoire and arrangements that has received outstanding reviews and is available on all streaming platforms. Additionally, he has released two chamber music CDs with the Stentorian Consort on the Albany Records label. Myths and Legends features premiere recordings by the Stentorian Consort, including first recordings by Fisher Tull, Eric Ewazen, Charles Wuorinen, Leslie Bassett, and others. The Stentorian Consort’s second CD, Diversions, is a highly acclaimed collaboration with Joseph Alessi of the New York Philharmonic and features newly commissioned works for trombone quartet and soloist.

While teaching at Baylor University, Mr. Phillips performed with the renowned Baylor Brass and recorded Four American Stories, consisting of American compositions by Haufrecht, Willis, Cheetham, and Plog.

Mr. Phillips has also performed all of the trombone tracks on the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and Animal Planet’s O’Shea’s Big Adventure. His latest recordings on YouTube feature works by Stjepan Šulek and Frank Martin.

Mr. Phillips has been a featured artist at the Alessi Seminars in 2005, 2007, and in Italy in 2010. He continues to perform as a soloist and clinician across the country. Notably, he was a semifinalist for the assistant principal trombone position with the New York Philharmonic and a semifinalist for principal trombone with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and recorded Mahler Symphony No. 6 and Mahler Symphony No. 3 with the Dallas Symphony under the direction of Jaap van Zweden.

During his tenure at Baylor, Professor Phillips’s students achieved remarkable success. They were selected as finalists and winners of national and international solo and quartet competitions and consistently won auditions for full-time professional orchestras and teaching positions at prestigious universities.

Mr. Phillips grew up in Houston, Texas, and attended Westfield High School under the guidance of Director of Bands Philip Geiger. His primary teachers were members of the Houston Symphony and the Houston Grand Opera, including Jim Pedigo, David Waters, and David Kirk. He also studied with Alan Barnhill and John McCroskey of the Houston Symphony, as well as Per Brevig of the New York Metropolitan Opera and John Kitzman of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Phillips holds both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in trombone performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.